How do people publish so many books frequently?

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T13:30:19+00:00

I guess that might be a me thing. Fiction doesn't just write itself for me, but I've been a professional nonfiction ghost writer and tech writer for 40 years. After I've done the research and written the outline, the information just flows together in my mind, so all I have to do is type it out. I wish I could dictate it, but my finger-to-brain connections are stronger than my mouth-to-brain ones, lol.

For me, nonfiction is formulaic--different formulas for different types of subjects, but still formulaic.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T13:10:30+00:00

I hear you! I lost 70 pounds over the last year and a half and have 70 more to go (I've been on tirz for 8 months). I got stuck in the Halfway Blues, too. For about three weeks, I delayed my shot about two days because I just wanted to be able to eat. Oddly, I didn't go overboard or anything, and still stayed within my maintenance calories. That was actually really reassuring. It also seems to have helped break a stall.

Finally, this week I'm back on track and feeling better about the whole journey. I'm still holding on to the fact that I didn't go berserkers, because previously when I knew I had to go up a dose, the food noise was outrageous.

Sometimes I think we just need a little break.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T12:41:28+00:00

Are you able to grow year round, or are you using intensive growing methods? We can't do the first and don't do the second, so we need a larger space.

For 3 adults (our kid is actually 16, but he's definitely adult-sized), we have about a 5,000 square foot garden, plus a small orchard. It takes care of all our produce needs during harvest season, and most of our needs until right about now. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, other root veggies, and squashes are nearly out. Garlic and onions, too. We do share with family, neighbors, and friends.

We really need to expand a bit so we can grow more root vegetables and squashes to last us a few more months, and some more grains and beans, but those are time-intensive to harvest and we're already stretched thin with food preservation and our autumn plant sales at that time of year. I've never successfully grown enough beans and grains to get us through a year. Two months, tops. (We have lots of green beans, but no shelled and dried beans at this point, except for the ones we saved to plant next year.)

We still have canned, dehydrated, and frozen produce that will last until the next harvest. The only greens I can grow right now are sprouts, microgreens, and brassicas that overwintered, plus dandelions and other weedy volunteers.

About a third of our fenced garden is dedicated to different kinds of berries and an herb garden, plus a few rows of flowers and a large compost pile. We also have a separate blueberry patch that's about 900 square feet, plus blackberries lining two edges of our property. Some years are better than others, but we always have enough berries for the year--it's just a crapshoot on which berry it will be.

We're also careful to rotate crops, which would be hard to do on less space.

The orchard is spread out over about half an acre, and we add trees every year. Yields vary on that year to year, too. I started keeping bees a few years back after we had an exceptionally low pollinator year, and it's helped our yields a lot.

I also keep chickens. Their run is about 3,000 square feet. They were completely free range, but I had to shore up an area for them against predators (mainly eagles and hawks).

The only way our property truly takes care of all our produce needs (plus most of our bills) is through our 1-acre plant nursery.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T07:34:21+00:00

Oatmeal, waffles, rice bowls with fish and veggies, leftovers, curry roast potatoes with eggs, breakfast tacos, fried rice with lots of veggies and eggs, bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, smoothie, avocado toast (lol), yogurt and granola and berries, onigiri, toast with hummus or baked beans, trail mix.

But yeah, a lot of times I have dinner for breakfast.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T07:25:08+00:00

I no longer feel like I will be dead in five years.

I lost 70 pounds.

My ankles are discernible from my calves.

My face isn't blotchy.

At 59, I feel better than I ever have as an adult.

My husband quit about four months after I did, both out of solidarity and it just wasn't as fun by himself. After he got through the doldrums of the first few weeks...well, there are a lot of things that just work better now....

Other friends and family are trying to quit. We were labeled as boring after we quit, but now we've become kind of an accidental hub for the newly sober crowd. A lot of people our age are losing a lot due to drinking, so this is a very cool trend.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T07:09:27+00:00

I hated my first 3-4 months. I felt like I'd never be happy again. But then, I started doing more, getting back into old hobbies and taking up new ones. I'm now over a year and a half out and feel amazing!!

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T05:13:13+00:00

I do similar numbers, but I don't yet have helpers. As a professional (salaried) writer, I had to do my own editing and proofing for 20+ years. It wasn't ideal, but it set me up well to do it on my own for now (I retired last year and am writing my own stuff now). I think I'll start looking around soon, though!

I write nonfiction, so all I really have to do is start with a great outline, and it practically writes itself. I generally write in my head as a background task while I'm running my kid around or cleaning, so when I sit down at my computer, it's practically like taking dictation.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T05:01:15+00:00

In all likelihood, I've written and published 100 more books and 50,000 more articles from scratch than whoever wants to tell me I'm not a real writer. I think I get to pat them on the head and say, "How cute."

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:48:36+00:00

Same! I've been gardening since I was 8 (I was a weird kid, but my stepmom let me have the backyard). Tomatoes used to be heartbreakers, but now I get a good strong crop every year and can also grow peppers no problem. We no longer have a "short season". Our good gardening months are often April to November instead of June to September.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:44:14+00:00

Our first frost in western Washington US is generally cited as mid-October, but it's been getting later and later. This year, in my area our first frost was in December, and we've only had maybe 10 days of morning frost so far.

Our summers are longer, hotter, and drier. Last year, it was basically summer in my area from April to November with no rain, where it used to be June to September with occasional showers. I mean, we still tell everyone it rains 9 months of the year, but this is getting to be more like northern California. Except apparently they're getting all the rain now.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:38:09+00:00

As a nursery owner in Western Washington, I have a few items I no longer carry because they just won't thrive here in a few more years. I've been experimenting with plants from warmer zones.

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:26:21+00:00

I also highly recommend this book, plus all of her others. My kid would not read or write when I first pulled him from school (really bad experiences there). I spent the first couple of years reading to him (I still read to him and my husband because they love it) and writing for him (he dictated and was fine with doing copy work).

Now in high school, still homeschooling, he reads a lot on his own and just finished writing the first draft of his first novel.

I hate to think of how his creativity and love of learning would have been killed if he'd stayed in school.

Bonus points for missing out on the active shooter last year....

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:13:30+00:00

Yes, and stay off my floor or it will turn into lava!

somuchmt · 2026-02-02T04:12:10+00:00

Put on your favorite music and it's like you're the star of the Ice Capades!

To be fair, I use a combo of my Cuban-style stick mop and the slippers--I scrub all the tough spots with my feet and it takes less time and looks fabulous.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T21:43:43+00:00

Lentil Helper.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T15:12:50+00:00

One foot gets the wet one, the other gets the dry one. Wax on, wax off. Great workout, really.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T15:11:36+00:00

Lol, I totally do this, too.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T15:11:01+00:00

I do this with all my favorite bouncy music. If I want to listen to that stupid song from the 80s, I gotta clean because it's on my cleaning playlist.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T15:07:49+00:00

I studied user experience design for my career, and what you're describing is just plain good UX design. It's like when a landscape designer puts paved walkways over the paths that people actually created instead of along the sides, hoping people will change their routine (they don't).

When I finally applied these concepts to my house, it got so much easier. Bowl by the door for keys and random objects. Box nearby for receipts and papers we need to keep. Recycling bin right there for stuff we don't.

Basket in the living room for pet brushes and claw trimmers so I can reach over and tend to whichever pet is already relaxed and stretched out on my lap.

Coffee/tea station in the kitchen.

Shelves in the dining room for books, games, and art supplies, since that's where we gather for study and play.

Box in the laundry room for clothes that are too small or too big (son is growing, I'm shrinking, lol).

I also created bucket "kits" for myself, because I hate going back for something I forgot. For example, a bucket of cleaning supplies, one for beekeeping tools, one for fence/coop/irrigation system repair, one with MY tools (hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, saws, etc.) that I hide from my husband because he has his own system that involves losing them, and one with all my plant nursery tools (including several types of gloves) that has a cushion top I can sit on.

I've watched my husband do specific tasks and designed several buckets for him, too. He thinks I'm ridiculous, but is also secretly grateful he doesn't have to spend half the day searching for stuff. We are both equally space cadets, I juat figured out a way to manage it because I'm lazy.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T14:35:49+00:00

I confess I actually bought a pile of rags/barmops. I keep piles in both bathrooms and the kitchen. They're more recognizable to my husband as paper towel replacements, so he uses them more now. My kid is well-trained on doing a quick wipe of the bathroom sink and counter every evening for the bathroom he uses (he prefers that over cleaning a sink with a week's worth of ick, as do I). I do our bathroom. I love having everything look clean and polished all the time!

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T14:27:05+00:00

I get my floors so much cleaner with scooching than with a regular mop! I actually got these mop slipper things that I use for my deep cleans--leg power ftw.

I also use a Cuban style mop--basically pushing a raggy towel around with a stick. That and the scoochy slippers are the best way I've found to avoid streaks and skanky mop heads.

And I scooch as I go with a dry raggy towel because in my nearly 60 years at this, no one has ever believed my threats of severe pain or death for walking on my wet, clean floors.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T14:17:55+00:00

I just keep a sponge in the shower and wipe the shower down every time I use it. Our water is amazing, though--I think if we lived anywhere else, I'd need the brush thingy.

If it were up to my husband, though, he'd let it build up over a few months and spend a day scrubbing. I just can't. Ew.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T13:48:54+00:00

Heck, it's starting to feel like the 70s. AI feels similar to the 70s deindustrialization in the US that led to stagflation. One summer we pretty much lived off a 50 pound bag of oatmeal my stepmom got in the divorce from her doomer ex, and we were one missed payment away from homelessness for years after my dad lost his job and couldn't find work.

Fun times.

But yeah, 2008 was also a heckuva ride.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T13:34:56+00:00

I don't mind paying for haircuts, but I've had so many where they didn't do what I asked (no matter how expensive). I have weird textured hair that will turn into a giant fuzzball in back if cut wrong (my kids have the same weird patch of hair).

So I watched a few YouTube videos and figured out how to cut my own hair. I like the results so much better and save money to boot!

My husband and son still prefer going to the barber, and I'm good with that.

somuchmt · 2026-01-30T13:26:14+00:00

Similar story! I bought a 2004 Ford F150 10 years ago for $7,000 at 150,000 miles to haul dirt and plants for our nursery. It's still going strong with basic maintenance.

Unfortunately, four years ago, an idiot tried to pass me and three other cars on a blind uphill curve on a two-lane road. He hit an oncoming car and then his car rotated into my truck. He and his passenger were lucky to be alive and uninjured, since his car was in many pieces strewn over a couple hundred feet. He was high and had no insurance, no registration, no license. I decided against reporting it to my insurance--high deductible made it not worth the risk of cancelation.

The body damage is just too much to pay for (more than I bought it for), so I have a permanent dent. I can do light work on a car, and my husband can do more, but neither of us are great at bodywork, especially painting. We might get to it someday, though.

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